Pila Pharma has secured 20 million Swedish kronor (£1.46m) to assist in the development of its oral therapeutic, XEN-D0501.
XEN-D0501 is an oral TRPV1 inhibitor — the first of its class in development — and is currently being investigated as a treatment for both obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Led by ex-Novo Nordisk research Dorte X. Gram, the company will use the capital to look at XEN-D051's potential to treat obesity alone, as well as its capacity for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
In parallel, the company will continue preparations for the upcoming Phase IIa study in obese people with diabetes — where XEN-D0501's safety and efficacy will be tested at a higher dose.
Interestingly, Gram was previously responsible for the screening, identification and discovery of semaglutide, the active ingredient in blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
"With this capital investment, we are launching a separate and completely new obesity track that can potentially provide meaningful data," noted Pila's founder and Head of Research, Dorte X. Gram.
"This leaves us with a unique opportunity to obtain a data package that will position Pila Pharma's TRPV1 inhibitor strongly and highly differentiated among new drugs in development for the obesity market. It is a market that is expected to grow rapidly and fragment going forward with a focus on tablet solutions and approaches other than GLP-1, and we are already experiencing great interest," she added.
XEN-D0501 has previously shown a favourable safety and efficacy profile in type 2 diabetes studies, including effects like improved insulin secretion and cardioprotective properties.
If the upcoming trials confirm an effect on weight loss, XEN-D0501 will be the first molecule within the TRPV1 drug class to demonstrate effect on body weight regulation.
"If we succeed in showing an effect on obesity, it will not only be a breakthrough for us, but also for the entire industry in the form of a new drug class with the potential to supplement or even challenge existing treatments," stated Pila's CEO, Gustav Gram.
"At the same time, it will place us in a strong position in a global market that is growing rapidly and a market that is increasingly looking for tablet-based solutions with different side effect profiles."
"We therefore believe, and with great support from our shareholders, that it is a logical and attractive move to investigate our candidate in pure obesity studies to understand the potential as best as possible and make us attractive for partnerships or acquisition, he concluded.
